Cookies Make the Heart Grow Fonder
by Mockingjay Rose
Summary: It was already Christmas Eve, but Tsuna still hasn't decided on what to gift Reborn. A special someone is willing to help him, though... Fon27 fluff. One-Shot Secret Santa story for bluenari.


**Cookies Make the Heart Grow Fonder**

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**A/N: **This is my one-shot Secret Santa gift for bluenari. I hope you enjoy it, and Merry Christmas!

**Pairing: **Fon27 fluff

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

**This has been beta-read by Phantom Hitman 1412.**

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It wasn't exactly a beautiful, snowy Christmas, but this year the festive season was apparent in the usually quiet town of Namimori. The ground was wet and slippery from last night's heavy snow, and several families had decorated their backyard with carefully preserved snowmen. Origami presents and stockings filled with candy were given to young children by kind shopkeepers, who happily sold specially cooked chicken to their parents.

With a small sigh, fifteen year old Sawada Tsunayoshi trudged through the uneven streets, shivering in his wet school uniform. He was already tired from another dull day of school, and it wasn't fair that he had to be clumsy on a day with poor weather. It wasn't even fair that Reborn was visiting Italy at that moment. And how his bone-chilling threats still lingered around, Tsuna had still yet to discover the answer.

At the back of his mind, he vaguely remembered that Christmas Eve wasn't a public holiday in Japan because less than one percent of the country's population was Christian. This didn't stop the Japanese from celebrating, though – it was a tradition for Tsuna and his mother to eat chicken and Christmas cake on that day every year.

This year, however, there were more members living in his household, so the atmosphere was expected to be brighter and more festive. Christmas was an important day in Italy, unlike Japan. Gokudera and Lambo were determined to make sure that Tsuna experienced an unforgettable day, and the silverette had done most of the event's organising. In Italy, Christmas included feast-like dinners with turkey, and it also required everyone to give presents to each other.

After being threatened at gunpoint by Reborn into working at TakeSushi two weeks before, Tsuna had finally earned enough money to afford presents for all his friends and family. It had been fun to shop for gifts afterwards, having an excuse to escape from his self-proclaimed right hand man. His Hyper Intuition allowed him to determine which presents were right for whom, so the task was fairly simple.

The present-wrapping was the most difficult part of the whole gift-giving. Tsuna didn't even want to mention the number of times he had accidently messed up the sticky tape, nor how often he had tripped over a pair of scissors. Then he had spent half a day writing Christmas cards during class, hoping that his messages weren't too lame and cliché.

By the twenty-fourth of December, the brunet had a stack of presents already under the festive tree in his living room. Written in his neatest handwriting, his presents were addressed to his mother, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Ryohei, Chrome, Mukuro, Hibari, Lambo, I-Pin, Fuuta and Bianchi. He had also spied a few gifts marked with his name, and it was hard to resist the temptation to open them.

No one had ever given presents to _Dame-Tsuna_, after all.

Only Reborn didn't have a present yet, but no matter how many times, or how long Tsuna racked his brain for a good present to give to his home tutor, nothing decent came up. When he finally thought that he had a good idea, his mind bombarded him with '_what if_'s, only resulting in deeper anxiety. It had gone on for days, and Tsuna was growing more and more desperate to find the right gift.

Glancing upward, the brunet suddenly spotted a flash of orange. Kyoko emerged from the shopping mall with Haru and Yuni close behind, their hands full of shopping bags. Kyoko looked especially nice in her winter attire, which consisted of a woolen dress, a fur coat, a pair of thick stockings, a pair of knee-high boots and a knitted scarf. Tsuna wondered if Kyoko's Christmas present for him existed somewhere in those bags. He had bought all the girls large stuffed toys, cutely wrapped in bow ties, based on their adoringly sweet personalities.

Watching the girls retreat, Tsuna could only sigh again. It was another Japanese tradition to confess one's love on Christmas Eve, and the brunet couldn't help but wish that Kyoko would return his romantic feelings towards her if he confessed to her once again. Remembering his first forced confession, he shook his head frantically, trying to clear himself from the embarrassing memory.

_Of course_ Kyoko wouldn't love him back – after everything they had been through, she had been treating him like they were siblings. Their differences were too significant. He was a loser at school with connections to the Italian mafia, and she was the school idol with an optimistic future. Even though Mochida wasn't the ideal boyfriend, he was brave enough to confess without his Dying Will. Admittedly, Tsuna had to respect him for that.

"Tsuna?"

"Hiiiiie!" With a start, the brunet tripped over his feet, landing face first onto ground. He had been so engrossed in his depressing thoughts, that he had completely missed the small man standing behind the bun store, disguised in a purple uniform. Recognising him immediately, Tsuna stood up and gave him an apologetic bow.

"F-Fon-san!" he stuttered, "I'm so s-sorry!"

The Chinese man removed his facial disguises and laughed pleasantly in understanding, amusement crossing his features as he studied Tsuna's expression. "It's fine, Tsuna," he replied kindly, "Are you in a rush because you're searching for a Christmas present to give to Reborn?"

The brunet blinked. "How did you know?" he asked.

With a chuckle, the martial artist offered him a Gyoza bun, which Tsuna accepted gratefully. "Reborn's like that," he explained, "He likes to remain mysterious and hard to impress, so we don't know how he'll react to what we give him. He always gave Dino a hard time."

"Dino-san? What did he give Reborn?"

"Let's see… he bought a coffee maker with a lifetime's supply of imported coffee beans once, a new gun during another year, and few new suits after that. Reborn had never expressed his approval or gratitude for any of them. Dino became so desperate one year that he decided to give him women. That didn't turn out well."

Tsuna scratched his head awkwardly, a blush appearing across his cheeks at the last comment. He somewhat understood his older brother's pain – he himself was anxious and worried for his own personal safety. He had considered giving his Spartan tutor several different things, but his Hyper Intuition rejected his suggestions every time.

Thanking Fon politely, the brunet took a small bite of his bun. "I don't have enough money to buy such extravagant presents," he said worriedly, "And I have to give it to him by tonight!"

Fon reached forward and gently tugged Tsuna's brown locks. "Dino never understood this, but if you do, it might solve your problem – giving a gift isn't only about extravagance. It's to show your appreciation and act as a token of your gratitude. I'm sure that Reborn would prefer a present only you could give."

"You mean…a present no one else can give?" Tsuna asked thoughtfully, "Like only I can make? Something…handmade?"

The martial artist smiled, looking pleased. "If that's what you think, you should go along with it," he said with an encouraging smile.

With his advice sparking an idea in his mind, Tsuna quickly thanked him and ran into the closing supermarkets, determination crossing his features.

* * *

**LATER THAT DAY**

_CRASH._

"No! L-Lambo!" Tsuna cried, as he desperately tried to prevent the cookie mix from falling, "You've already destroyed three mixes!" Forgetting the stray cooking utensils on the tiled kitchen floor, the brunet dove towards the large ceramic bowl, his sticky fingers reaching out towards it…

…only for it to be kicked onto his face.

"Hiiiiie!" Unable to dodge in time, Tsuna pinched his eyes shut, feeling the thick mix creep down his neck and into his shirt. His mother's apron was already covered with an assortment of cookie mix, chocolate chips, icing and flour.

"Sorry, I-Pin missed."

Lambo and I-Pin failed to hear the urgency in the brunet's voice, however. Jumping down from her kick, the Chinese girl landing with a flip, before kicking the bowl of icing towards Lambo. She missed again with her poor eyesight, but Lambo fell into the sink at the exact time with a _plop_.

Tsuna wasn't amused at all. He had put so much effort into that cookie mix. After thinking over Fon's advice, he had decided to bake chocolate chip cookies. It was a seemingly simple task – the supermarkets all sold different cookie packets, and all he had to do was follow the instructions. His mother had all the utensils required, and since she was out shopping, the kitchen was free.

But then again, he was _Dame-Tsuna_ after all, someone who was doomed with disaster and misfortune…

His first mixture had been sabotaged by Bianchi, who had waltzed into the kitchen at the smell. Less than a minute later, she had turned everything edible into toxic waste. It had taken a long time to clean the kitchen after that, and when finally finished his second batch, they burnt in the oven.

And now…

"Gyahahahaha! You can't catch Lambo-san! Gyahahahaha!"

Lambo raced around the kitchen, leaping over the fallen utensils and bowls. His cow suit and tail were dripping with sink water and chocolate. I-Pin was hot on his heels, with an angry expression across her face. Tsuna couldn't keep up with their childish bicker, so he face-palmed with extreme annoyance.

"LAMBO! I-PIN! COULD YOU TWO STOP?" he yelled, "I'M TRYING TO MAKE COOKIES FOR REBORN, SO COULD YOU BOTH LEAVE THE KITCHEN?"

The child in the cow suit didn't miss a beat. "Lambo-san is innocent! Blame everything on I-Pin!" he accused. He stuck his tongue out at Tsuna and continued to laugh, as he jumped onto the thankfully turned off stovetop.

"That is not nice, Lambo!" I-Pin tried to reason.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHA! BAKA-TSUNA CAN'T TELL LAMBO-SAN WHAT TO DO! GYAHAHAHAHA~!"

"Tsuna?"

"F-Fon?" Once again, Tsuna was relieved to see the small black haired baby, as he carefully made his way into the destroyed kitchen. Tossing his apron and the kitchen utensils into the sink, the brunet collapsed onto his knees.

"Master!" I-Pin cried. Without her attention, Lambo quieted down and ran out of the kitchen, throwing behind a banana peel from his afro. Despite the added trash, Tsuna was glad to see the main troublemaker leave.

"I apologise for this, Tsuna," Fon said sincerely, "I believed I-Pin to be a better behaved child." Glancing around the room, he then said, "Reborn has contacted me – he will be arriving back in Namimori shortly."

The brunet widened his eyes. "S-Soon?" he gasped. Standing up, he turned the tap on, and began to rinse the cookie mix from his face and arms. With trembling hands, he emptied his final two cookie packets into an unused bowl. He had to succeed this time, or else Reborn would kill him!

"Here, let me help," Fon said pleasantly, as he jumped onto the bench top, "I'll clean the messy cookie trays and you make the cookie mix."

"Um, okay," the brunet replied. With the measuring cup, he poured in two cups of water and started stirring. The black haired baby grabbed the metal tray from the sink and proceeded to throw its burnt cookies into the bin.

The two worked like that for half an hour, and soon the cookies were baking in the oven. Tsuna closed his eyes happily, as the warm smell of the fresh cookies wafted through the air. He had also been cleaning the kitchen, and now the room was almost spotless, sans for the banana peel.

"They're ready," Fon announced after a while, "If you leave them in the oven for a bit longer, they will burn."

Tsuna nodded. "Okay," he said. He opened a cupboard door and took out a pair of oven mitts. Carefully, he then turned off the oven to take the three trays out.

"T-They look good!" the brunet said with shock. He put the trays on the cooking rack, watching them cool down.

Fon smiled and admired his work. "Yes, they are the perfect gift indeed. I believe Reborn would love them."

"What would I love?" a squeaky voice called out from the ceiling. With a flash, Leon returned from his parachute form to his usual chameleon form. Softly landing on his tiny feet, the new comer raised a gun at Tsuna's head.

"N-N-Nothing! Hiiiiie!" the brunet shrieked, "D-Don't point your gun at me!"

"Nothing? You were baking cookies and wasting your time, Dame-Tsuna."

"I'm sorry, Reborn!" Tsuna sniffed, his eyes now puffy from tears, "I w-wanted to bake cookies for you to show my a-appreciation and-"

_KICK!_

"A good Mafia boss should be able to control his family," Reborn interrupted with a stern expression, "It is obvious that Lambo and I-Pin were in this kitchen."

Tsuna shrunk back, clutching his injured collarbone. "Hiiiie!" he shrieked, "But I'm not a Mafia Boss! And and and-"

"Reborn, it's Christmas Eve – why don't you accept your student's present?" Fon said calmly.

The hitman tutor narrowed his eyes and turned his back on them. "For you to succeed as Vongola Decimo is all I want, Dame-Tsuna. I don't need anything else."

"Reborn! Please! Accept these cookies – _hiiiiiiie_!"

Tripping over the stray banana peel, the brunet crashed onto the ground, his body falling into a weird position. At the impact, the cookie tray went flying out of his hand, sending the cookies soaring into different corners of the room. A cookie sailed above Reborn's figure, and with a small movement, he suddenly snatched it from the air to take a bite.

Tsuna gulped nervously, expecting the worst.

A strange expression crossed Reborn's features. "It's not bad," he admitted slowly, as he took another bite into the chocolate chip cookie. Brushing away the crumbs, he leapt over to the cooling rack and snatched a tray. Then he walked out of the kitchen without another word.

"A-Ah…"

Fon chuckled softly from behind. "I think he's pleased," he said, "Well done, Tsuna."

"W-Well done?"

"Indubitably – Reborn rarely gives compliments. Congratulations for being his first student to impress him with a Christmas gift."

Tsuna's cheeks flushed red. "But without your help, I wouldn't have made this work…" Still blushing, he picked up a heart shaped cookie from the other tray and offered it to the black haired baby.

"Thank you, Fon," he said with a smile from his heart, "Thanks for everything."

* * *

**OMAKE: Meanwhile in Italy…**

"Boss! Are you sure about this?" Romario asked, as he watched Dino desperately make his last minute phone calls, "This idea you have is slightly…insane."

Dino slammed his head on the desk and groaned. "It's not crazy! If I buy that entire farm, Reborn could have all this land to train in, and he could raise animals! He likes Leon a lot! He could grow all these crops, eat organic foods, ride horses-"

"Boss, Reborn is a hitman."

"-shoot crows, shoot pigeons, shoot dead crops, shoot intruders, shoot bugs, shoot scarecrows, shoot mad cows-"

Romario could only sigh. _He we go again, _he thought.

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**A/N: **Merry Christmas again, and I hope you all enjoyed this story! May today be filled with candy, presents and cookies! And celebration!

Did anyone spot the pun in the title?

Love,

**-Mockingjay Rose**


End file.
